Formosa fish: description, features of maintenance and reproduction

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Formosa fish is a great choice for those who do not have space at home to set up a large aquarium. This is a small fish that does not require much space. Because of this, it is very popular among fans of microaquaria. Consider the appearance, features of maintenance and reproduction of formosa.

General information

Formosa fish belongs to the family of pecilia. In nature, it lives in the USA: Florida and South Carolina. Fish live in rivers. It prefers to settle in coastal zones with a weak current, overgrown with vegetation. Since the temperature drops significantly in the natural habitats of the Formosa aquarium fish in winter, it does not need additional heating at home.

The fish are undemanding to the conditions of detention, and therefore are perfect for a beginner. In the general aquarium, they can play the role of a nurse. They destroy bacteria that grow on algae leaves and soil.

Formosa fish is in seventh place in the list of the smallest fish in the world. Under ideal conditions, durationThe life of a fish is about three years.

Appearance and sexual dimorphism

The body size of an adult fish reaches 3.5 cm in length. Formosa fish has a silver-olive color. A dark line and 8-12 vertical stripes run along the body. There are dark spots on the anal and dorsal fins. The back is painted a little darker, the belly is a light silver color. The body is elongated, flattened laterally. The fins are transparent, sometimes with a yellow tint. Formoses, unlike most other fish species, have movable eyes. The article presents photos of Formosa fish.

Females are much larger than males, they have more rounded shapes. The average body length of a male is 1.5 cm, and that of a female is 3.5 cm. The anal fin of females is rounded, in males it looks like a tube. During the spawning season, males use their anal fin to impregnate the female.

Contents

Formosa fish is extremely unpretentious, so even a beginner can cope with its content. It has a small size, so you can even keep it in a glass jar. Although it is recommended to use a container with a volume of at least 15 liters for optimal living conditions.

Formosa fish are not particularly picky about water quality. The optimum water temperature for their maintenance is 22-25 degrees, but they are quite capable of surviving drops from 12 to 30 degrees. Desirable water hardness dH - 5-6, acidity pH - 7, 0-7, 5. It is necessary to add a little s alt to the water at the rate of 4 g per 1 liter of water. Water changes should be carried out weekly, changing at least 25% oftotal volume. In nature, fish live in a small current, so the aquarium should be equipped with a filter. An aeration system is also required. Formosa fish love the light, so you should take care of the lighting. It is unacceptable to put the aquarium in direct sunlight.

The aquarium should be planted with a large number of all kinds of plants in which the fish can hide. They also like to dig into the moss, which can be planted in the ground. These are very shy fish, so for their peace of mind it is necessary to put a large number of shelters.

Feeding

Formosa aquarium fish are quite unpretentious in terms of nutrition, although live food is more popular with them. Fish can be given dry feed mixtures. Be sure to feed herbs. From live feed, you can use tubifex, brine shrimp, bloodworms. The fish is small, so the size of the food should correspond to its small mouth. Too much feed should be ground. The diet should be varied. Feed should be given as much as the fish can eat in 3-4 minutes. The rest must be removed from the aquarium to avoid contamination.

Compatibility

Formose must be kept in flocks of at least 10 individuals. They are peaceful and friendly fish that get along well with other non-aggressive species. But you should be careful when keeping formoses along with veil-tailed fish, with which they can bite their fins. Also, don't put them infish that are significantly larger than Formose, because they can be mistaken for food.

Formosa themselves may well destroy all the shrimps in the aquarium, so you should avoid such a neighborhood. However, they get along well with water snails.

Reproduction

Puberty in formosis occurs at 6-8 months. The water must be warm enough, so a water heater may be needed to breed the fish. The usual temperature should be raised by about 2 degrees. Lighting needs to be increased.

Formosa fish are viviparous. Pregnancy of the female lasts 4-8 weeks. If other livebearers produce all the offspring at a time, then the formose gives birth to one or two fry within two to three weeks. In total, she can produce about 40 fry. At the same time, the fry are quite large in size relative to newborns of other species. They are born fully formed. With insufficient nutrition, formoses can eat their young, so the fry that have appeared should be planted in a separate container until they grow up. At first, they need to be fed with infusoria, living dust, artemia. A week after birth, dry food can be introduced into the diet.

Thus, Formosa fish are quite popular among aquarists due to their small size and unpretentiousness. They can survive temperature fluctuations and fluctuations in water parameters, and therefore forgive beginner aquarists many mistakes. Despite not the brightest appearance, formoses have a lot of advantages to staysought-after pets around the world.